Your last generator Maintenance Run

[LouNY]

The general rule is never copper or galvanized materials in contact with diesel. The main reason is that in the presence of water, there is a reaction with these materials that produces sulphuric acid which is obviously hard on fuel systems.

Now that there is virtually no sulphur in diesel I don’t think that particular item is an issue however none of the manufacturers I’m aware of have changed their standard regarding these materials so there may be other reasons to avoid it. Personally I’d stay away from copper line and galvanized fittings.

I don't see why you wouldn't or shouldn't use copper on diesel engines.
My Oliver had some copper lines on it with no problem,
and on top of that I'd say that many 1000's of home oil fired boilers and furnaces have been piped with rolled copper tubing for fuel.

 

[Chilliwack Murray]

Well, for the reason listed among others. A burner can tolerate far more contamination than fuel pumps and injectors with clearances in the 10 thousandths of an inch.



What’s a furnace burner worth? Fuel pumps for a large engine can run $100k

 

[ultrarunner]

Great score, and solution. Reading up on Monel, it has some interesting applications (anchor chains for minesweepers.....).

Makes me sad (for us rust-belters) when I hear of your and other Cali or SW vehicles @50+ years old, with original brake lines. NiCopp line is what is needed in salt-country to get a shot at a decent lifespan.

Rgds, D.

I always wondered growing up why collectors prized California vehicles but it was not until I spent time on my Grandparents farm in snow county that I saw 6 year old cars rusting away...

Learned rust/corrosion does them in way before the engines die... which is just the opposite seeing rust free cars going to the metal handler because of a bad engine...

I would imagine generators and all exposed equipment subject to humid temperature swings and salted roads would be at greater risk...

 

[grsthegreat]

grs - was that Pi unit produced by these guys ?

GENMON - Monitor your generator online

Are you running data through their network software, or is it a local solution ?

Reasonable price ?

Rgds, D.

mine is a raspberry pi System , but not that one. I got mine on eBay
**GenPi**Generac Gen Monitor pwrd by GenMon! W/ Easy Setup & Ext. Ant. & LED Btn | eBay. For $400.00.

It’s monitored thru my own network only. No one outside my network can see it. Generacs own system requires yearly fees, this one does not

 

[3930dave]

I always wondered growing up why collectors prized California vehicles but it was not until I spent time on my Grandparents farm in snow county that I saw 6 year old cars rusting away...

Learned rust/corrosion does them in way before the engines die... which is just the opposite seeing rust free cars going to the metal handler because of a bad engine...

I would imagine generators and all exposed equipment subject to humid temperature swings and salted roads would be at greater risk...

The humidity/condensation alone is bad enough. Take the oil-fill cap off a retired persons grocery getter (not driven much, esp. in the Winter months), not unusual to see milk-shake looking oil/water emulsion - some of those engines spend a good chunk of the Winter never fully warming up.

It's bad enough that once said vehicle does get it's first warm weather long drive, "suddenly" the oil level is low..... all that happened was the moisture burned off.

Rgds, D.

 

[3930dave]

mine is a raspberry pi System , but not that one. I got mine on eBay
**GenPi**Generac Gen Monitor pwrd by GenMon! W/ Easy Setup & Ext. Ant. & LED Btn | eBay. For $400.00.

It’s monitored thru my own network only. No one outside my network can see it. Generacs own system requires yearly fees, this one does not

Thanks for 411 !

Aside from fees, some for-hire networks don't stick around for the long haul. Should be relatively easy to roll-your-own secure global access, if desired.

Rgds, D.

 

[3930dave]

Well, for the reason listed among others. A burner can tolerate far more contamination than fuel pumps and injectors with clearances in the 10 thousandths of an inch.

View attachment 605543

What’s a furnace burner worth? Fuel pumps for a large engine can run $100k

On a commercial installation, I can see sticking with steel, partly for impact strength.

Good info........ seems the copper option is the least-evil of the alternates.

Rgds, D.

 

[Chilliwack Murray]

I’d guess that steel would cost less than copper tube these days and you don’t risk contamination.

 

[TheMan419]

So I guess if the power goes out that is not technically a test run? Had a very strong thunderstorm roll through from 330 am to about 430 am today.

Power went out abt 415 am. Generator fired right up at 630 am once my lack of coffee addled mind remembered to turn the gas line to ON.

Was then able to make coffee. Wife got a reminder lesson (at her request) on how to start and stop unit, when to flip the various circuit breakers etc.

15000 homes with out power. Our outage only covered 5 homes. I figured we would be near the last getting power back. It was back on by about 10 am.

Generator run time was a couple hours due to showers and horse related activities.

Everything worked flawlessly. Good to do that in real world conditions.

 

[3930dave]

So I guess if the power goes out that is not technically a test run? Had a very strong thunderstorm roll through from 330 am to about 430 am today.

Power went out abt 415 am. Generator fired right up at 630 am once my lack of coffee addled mind remembered to turn the gas line to ON.

Was then able to make coffee. Wife got a reminder lesson (at her request) on how to start and stop unit, when to flip the various circuit breakers etc.

15000 homes with out power. Our outage only covered 5 homes. I figured we would be near the last getting power back. It was back on by about 10 am.

Generator run time was a couple hours due to showers and horse related activities.

Everything worked flawlessly. Good to do that in real world conditions.

It's great when a plan works out :thumbsup:.

That wasn't too long an outage, but if you are on a sump pump, even an hour can seem really long.

Good test of your setup, and bonus points with SWMBO wanting to train too !

Rgds, D.